Library / English Dictionary

OWE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Be in debt

Example:

The thesis owes much to his adviser

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Hypernyms (to "owe" is one way to...):

be (have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun))

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "owe"):

mortgage (put up as security or collateral)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something
Somebody ----s something to somebody

Sentence examples:

They owe the money to them

They owe them the money

Sense 2

Meaning:

Be obliged to pay or repay

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "owe"):

chalk up; run up (accumulate as a debt)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody something
Somebody ----s something to somebody

Sense 3

Meaning:

Be indebted to, in an abstract or intellectual sense

Example:

This new theory owes much to Einstein's Relativity Theory

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Hypernyms (to "owe" is one way to...):

build on; build upon; repose on; rest on (be based on; of theories and claims, for example)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something to somebody
Somebody ----s something PP

Credits

 Context examples: 

Say, rather what it is that I owe to thee, good youth.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The old house of Cliffe Royal has been pulled down, owing to the terrible family associations which hung round it, and a beautiful modern building sprang up in its place.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

This is the first glint of hope I had since the attack failed, and I owe it you.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

You may send a large wire or check to cover an obligation or receive a large sum from someone who owes you—or both.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

I well see, said the king, that I owe my thanks to you; can I do anything to please you?

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

Alteration of the disposition and/or effect of a drug, owing to the presence of another factor such as a second drug, or food.

(Drug interaction, NCI Thesaurus)

The life of my father is in the greatest danger, owing to the dreadful circumstance that I have related.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

H. alvei is found in water, soil and foods, is part of the gastrointestinal flora and is rarely pathogenic owing to the expression of few virulence factors.

(Hafnia alvei, NCI Thesaurus)

You do not owe me the duty of a child.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

A strong hand gripped me, and when the Ghost finally emerged, I found that I owed my life to Johnson.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)